Boaters use pontoon boats to transport one or more people on a body of water. Pontoon-style boats typically include one or more large pontoons that extend in the principle direction of movement of the boat. Due to the size and shape of typical pontoons, pontoon boats are often difficult to store and transport. For example, boaters usually transport a pontoon boat to and from a body of water on a large trailer coupled to a specialized towing vehicle that has sufficient towing power to pull the trailer and pontoon boat. Once the towing vehicle arrives at the body of water, the boater must find a marina with a suitable unloading area, typically consisting of a large boat ramp that extends into the body of water. Once the boater has located a suitable marina, the driver of the towing vehicle maneuvers the towing vehicle such that a back end of the trailer faces the body of water. The driver then moves the vehicle and trailer in reverse until the boat and the trailer are at least partially submerged in the body of water. The driver then releases the boat from the trailer and a person on the pontoon boat maneuvers the boat away from the trailer. The driver of the towing vehicle must then find a suitable location to store the towing vehicle and the trailer while the pontoon boat is in use.
When use of the boat is terminated, the drive must retrieve the towing vehicle and the maneuver the towing vehicle and trailer to retrieve the boat from the body of water by repeating the steps outlined above in the reverse order. As such, the driver maneuvers the towing vehicle and trailer until the back end of the trailer faces the body of water. The driver then moves the towing vehicle until the trailer is at least partially submersed and the boat can be loaded onto the partially-submerged trailer. The towing vehicle then removes the trailer and pontoon boat from the water and the driver secures the pontoon boat to the trailer for the journey to a boat storage facility. As such, transporting, loading, unloading and storing a pontoon boat is often expensive and time consuming.
In some cases, the pontoon boat is stored at a marina where the boat is docked in the water or raised out of the water. However, this method of storing a pontoon boat is also expensive because pontoon boats require large docks with specialized docking equipment due to the size and shape of the pontoons.
During the off-season, or during other periods of time in which the pontoon boat is not in use, the pontoon boat must be stored. Due to the size and unusual hull shape of typical pontoon boats, boaters often store pontoon boats in outdoor locations, thus exposing the boat to environmental factors which increase the rate at which the boat deteriorates. When indoor storage facilities of sufficient size to hold a pontoon boat are available, those storage facilities tend to be very expensive to lease or own.
What is needed is a pontoon boat that is easy to load, unload, store and transport, while still providing a pontoon-style watercraft for people to enjoy on a body of water.